Brandon, the Egan Bernal fan who quit addiction and is a national cycling champion

The neighborhood Macaws is in the south of Bogota. It is part of the town of San Cristobal. Nearby is the 20 de Julio school, located in the populated area, which on Sunday is impassable due to the pilgrimage of faithful who go to mass and entrust themselves to the Divine Child Jesus.

Brandon Alejandro Rojas VegaWell, without Rojas, because his mother, Ana Ximena Ávila Vega, he doesn't like being named after his father's last name, he studied at that school. The cyclist, national under-23 road champion, knew that studying was not his thing. He didn't like to take the notebooks and he only went to 'warm up' and collect, it was the only thing that motivated him.

Ana Ximena did not realize her son's behavior, that he was not a 'sweet pear'. She had to earn her daily living working in a casino in Bogotá. He left very early and returned at night. Her children, Brandon, Wilder and Andrés Felipe, were taken care of by their grandmother. Maria Ernestinabut she was not a strong hand, she let them do whatever they wanted, and the last thing they wanted was to study, so when Ana arrived it was a constant fight.

The situation at home was very difficult, there was no money and Brandon had to work. His grandfather, Luis Antonio Vega, He had a vegetable store and he got a job there. He was in charge of serving, cleaning the premises and helping to sell apples, dad, that gave him the opportunity to have some extra money.

“It was a hard time because they were already using drugs and I was hanging out with them. Obviously, I tried, he was a boy.”

Not having someone nearby to supervise her movements and demand that she complete her studies became a headache for Ana Ximena because her son got out of her hands. He was 12 years old and at school he began to make inconvenient friends. They were older boys, between 16 and 17 years old, and they were leading him down the wrong path.

Hard reality

Brandon began to miss school. He didn't attend classes and went wandering. He had no idea what he was up to, he only understood that his mother couldn't realize it or it was a fixed punishment.

“It was a hard time because they were already using drugs and I was hanging out with them. Obviously, I tried, he was a child, I didn't know he was so dangerous, I didn't understand what was wrong. Smoking marijuana was not the ideal path, But I didn't have all five senses right,” recalls Brandon, one of the young cyclists making their way in search of success.

For him it was normal to miss class, go play soccer and annoy people. He would arrive at night smelling of marijuana because he spent his time smoking. “I was very lost,” he counted.

Cycling, in those days, was a nice memory. When he was 10 years old, his uncle Luis Mario Vega gave him Christmas a bicycle, but it was not a mountain bike or a road bike. Brandon remembers that it was a machine for practicing freestyle, a figure modality that recently entered the Olympic program.

The bicycle was an excuse because it helped him get out of school. One day, his uncle told him to accompany him on a trip through the neighborhood. Juan Rey, close to where they lived. The idea was to climb the eight kilometer slope that was there.

“I did it on that small bike and he rode a good one, almost professional. On that machine we started to climb and I beat him. Of course, he told me that I had a lot of talent and led me to sign up for a club, but that didn't work out,” he recalled.

Luis Mario began to see changes in his nephew. He spoke with Ana Ximena and she showed him her concern because she saw Brandon very changed, with a bad temper, he didn't pick up a notebook, and she started trying to see what he was doing.

“He realized that I was bad, that I smoked marijuana, that I didn't go to school and he took it upon himself to take me down the path of sports. He has always told me that I am a son to him and if it weren't for him, who knows where I would be,” said the Colombian rider, born on July 2, 2002, in Bogotá.

Seeing what was happening, certain that the boy was involved in drugs, he told him to use the bicycle again and enrolled him in the club. Roberto 'Oso' Sánchez, one of the Colombian coaches with the most history.

Luis was in charge of taking him to training every day. She couldn't separate herself from him. Months later, Sánchez saw in Rojas Vega a talent to exploit, so his uncle made a great effort and gave him a bicycle. Optimus carbon.

“I was happy. At that time they did checks on the track and he won all of them. We started going to the circuits, I started winning races and he got me more into that world. Then, another uncle, Víctor, also supported me, because they saw that he needed help and he didn't have a dad,” said Brandon, a GW Erco Shimano team rider.

He became a cyclist

The young man could not have had better sponsors. Luis and Víctor were in charge of providing him: they bought him shoes, helmet and uniforms, and the best thing was that Brandon responded with victories and excellent performances from him.

Marijuana, soccer, the hours lost outside of school became history and Ana Ximena was much calmer, because she saw that her son was not lost and had been reborn for life, but another problem arose.

Brandon ended up in the Esteban Chaves Foundation. However, he lived in the south of Bogotá and the training sessions were in the north or at the 80th Street exit, a long journey. His uncles could not accompany him every day and although he passed all the filters, he could not continue in the group and stayed with 'Bear' Sánchez.

Then he went to the Capital Cycling Foundation of Bogotá. The dream of running Europe came for the first-time runner, who faced that moment in the team with more anxiety and nerves Bathco, group that gave opportunities to promising young people, but their experience only lasted three months.

Brandon Alejandro lived in an apartment with Juan Ayuso, the great star of the UAE Emirates team, a person with whom he maintains communication. Even when he won the National, the Spaniard called him and congratulated him.

At that time, Ayuso was looking to make his way. It was his second year as a professional, and the Bogota native was just beginning his career. Although that test was good, Rojas Vega did not stay, he boarded a plane and returned to Colombia.

He says that the adaptation was not easy. It was her turn to cook, wash clothes. She lived in Cantabria (Spain) and it helped that Ayuso spoke Spanish, but…

“The first month I really missed my mother, my brothers, I thought about them when I went out to train, but over time you mature, because it is what you want and it is work. I came back because what was allowed was only three months. “I had permission and the opportunity to stay or return, and I chose the latter, I couldn't stand being out of the house anymore,” she said.

Hard injury

Joxean 'Matxin', at that time a rider scout for the UAE, contacted him. He told him to be calm, that he was going to follow in his footsteps, but no more.

Brandon signed with Giuseppe Acquadro, the manager of Nairo Quintana, Egan Bernal and Rigoberto Urán, who took him to the Androni, Gianni Savio.

Was with Santiago Umba, today corridor Astana, but he also had to deal very hard. Once again, Brandon Alejandro went into the kitchen. He took turns with Umba. One day he did the job, while the runner from Boyacá acted as the cook and vice versa.

“We had to make video calls with the mothers so they could tell us how to make chicken or meat or how to cook vegetables,” he said.

He only lasted one year with the team. Sponsorship ran out and it was dismantled. Rojas Vega took a plane and landed in Bogotá, without a job. He found the helping hand of Luis Cely, who took him to GW Shimano-Sidermec, a new hope to continue in international cycling.

One of his first races in 2023 was the Vuelta al Táchira. Brandon fell, his right knee hitting the handlebars. At first he only felt intense pain, but then it turned into a nightmare.

His knee went back, it swelled, but he continued in the competition. Injured, he finished the race and headed to compete in the Bucaramanga Cycling Nationals. There he did the time trial, but his leg did not respond.

He recognizes that it was a big mistake not to go to the doctor, because when he underwent some tests it was concluded that he had a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

“It was a mistake and the team sent me to doctor Gustavo Castro, who also discovered that I had torn my meniscus. I stayed still all last year. My mother and my girlfriend, also a cyclist Luisa Sanabria, took me to therapy on crutches,” he recalled sadly.

Castro was very direct and told him the truth. It was an injury that took time to heal. Many people told him that he would not return to cycling, that he should forget about the bicycle, but he insisted. Every day, sacredly, he went to physical therapy, to the pool, days in which he remained “dead.”

Gold

He returned to cycling. Cely gave him the confidence to be with him now on the GW Erco Shimano and with him he won the nationals, a title he celebrated by entering the finish line in the Plaza de Bolívar in Tunja pointing to her right knee, while Ana Ximena screamed wildly behind the fences.

He knows little about his biological father. He left the house and never returned. In 2015, Brandon went to compete in a test in Fusagasugá and He saw someone looking at him. The man approached him and spoke to him. He had seen him in photos and realized that he was his father. Brandon was shocked. He did not know how to react, because in tears that person hugged him and asked for forgiveness.

“My mother doesn't like that I have the last name Rojas. It bothers her when they call me that, she prefers Vega. My dad, since that time, he writes to me, he is interested. The truth is that it is not easy and I do not deny greetings. I talk normally with him, but I don't go beyond that,” said the rider, who is the one who answers at home and dreams of returning to cycling in Europe.